Ace Combat X: Sky of Ashes
by Loveless-KIRA
Summary: Follows the exploits of the famed Alect Squadron of Leasath. The ties of life, flowing freely like the trails of a beautiful dogfight, bind together the destinies of three young pilots, as well as the infamous Southern Cross. Chapters 5-8 up!
1. EP 1: Components of The Sky

The air at Terminus Island, crisp and cool, was like taking in a revitalizing sip of cool water with each breath. The air was tainted only, if not slightly, by occasional yet pleasant twinges of the rich smell of fuel.

Two boys kidnapped by destiny sit by their planes, sandwiched by the black tarmac they stood on and the blue purity of the chicory colored sky above.

One boy, thin and very proper, feels naked without the clouds overcast, over exposed to the golden component of the sky.

"It's revolting." He said haughtily, flipping the sable hair over one shoulder, "That something so pure and beautiful is violated by humanity like this."

The other boy, thin, but not proper, embraces the ability of clarity and perfect vision granted by the lack of clouds imposing on his view.

This boy sighed, smiling as he pushed his mangy, disheveled bangs back. Smirking, this boy said, "You know, some people think... war is beautiful."

Silence gave them time to ponder the opposing viewpoints. Then it was broken as trails of white scar the pure blue sky as two MiG-29's screech overhead in combat exercises.

"Aurelia." The first boy said, retreating into the shade under the wing of his custom blue painted Su-32, "I hate hot weather."

The war-infatuated boy with the wind-tossed hair turned and smirked. "Eun, looks like we're needed already."

The war-disgusted boy in the shade shut his eyes and sighed.

A pink haired girl approaches the two boys, her g-suit top, unzipped and hanging at the waist. The sleeves are tied loosely and the top trails behind her as she runs.

"Eun! Sun! Ready to meet your new carrier ship?"

Sun, the one who finds beauty in war, jumps off the wing of the red-wing tipped Su-32 he had been sitting on.

"Stella. Right. Let's go."

The three proceeded into the hangar, where, upon approaching they could hear the piercing scream of the alert on the p.a. system. Crew members and pilots alike were in action, preparing for the upcoming sortie.

"What's going on!?" Eun said, grabbing a crew member by the arm. He shook the boy's grip and resumed his duties.

"I'm afraid the formal introductions will have to wait." A gruff voice behind the three said. They turned around to see an older man in a captain's uniform, with eyes like coal. Measured, yet prone to fire up when the situation so-called for it.

"I'll be your captain, Captain Tetsu Calibrinus."

"Sir!" Eun and Stella promptly saluted, which was briefly returned by the captain. Sun yawned, oblivious to the exchange of salutes.

"Please follow me." Said the captain, turning and leading the trio down a long, narrow hallway, which was quiet. The contrast in volume from the chaotic hangar from before was deafening.

As they continued down the hallway, they were met by two armed MP's flanking a solid steel doorway.

"So fancy!" Stella said, looking down at the marble floor of the hallway, then up at the stoic guards as the captain input a series of codes into a security terminal by the door.

The door opened, and the four continued through the door, Sun casually offering a mock-salute as he passed the two MP's. On the other side of the door the four found themselves on a metal walkway, leading up to a sight they could scarcely believe--

"Meet your new carrier," Captain Tetsu said, indicating towards the giant, hulking black frame of the soon to be infamous airborne fortress.

Eun clenched his fist. "This is..."

"The Glepnir."

----------------------------------------------------

[Next episode preview:]

The lives tempered in war share a kindred spirit, enemies or not. When the two kindred spirits meet in battle, a star-crossed love begins to form.

Next time, on Ace Combat X: Sky of Ashes, _The Southern Cross_.

Cross out the stars with your flight path, Ace pilot!


	2. EP 2: The Southern Cross

"This thing is a carrier!?" Sun exclaimed, pointing at the terrifying sight.

The graveness of the captain's face was etched in stone, his black and white and gray peppered hair etched in granite under his hat.

"Come. There's no time.", he said, walking as the bewildered three trailed behind him, "An Aurelian fighter squadron is heading to intercept our bombers. Wiping them out shall serve as this ship's baptism."

Crew members who had been awaiting the quartet opened the door to the Glepnir with a salute. They entered into a labyrinth of metal hallways not unlike those of naval carrier ships, imbued with the red hue of the flashing alert lights.

"Condition Red Issued." The PA repeated. The crew making preparations around the captain stopped to salute.

"This ship is entering battle. Prepare for takeoff!" The captain roared. And in his eyes, the coals begin to light.

"Sir!" The crew members responded, and returned to their duties.

"You three go to your planes. As of now, you are on standby."

The words took a moment to register in the ears of the still bewildered young pilots.

"Go. NOW." Tetsu roared. And the three jumped to action.

Upon navigating the labyrinth that was the inner sanctum of the Glepnir, they found the hangar, and within it, three MiG-17's.

"The hell! They expect us to fly those!??" Sun exclaimed. Stella looked up at Eun, who had been quiet.

"No," He said, "They probably believe they can wipe out the enemy using this fortress' power alone."

Sun and Stella looked at each other, then at Eun.

"This monster," He said, "What is it really capable of...?"

***

"Activate coasting thrusters, angle at 35 degrees up!" The captain commanded to the room full of crew members.

"Sir! 35 degrees!" The Glepnir's navigator said, and with that the massive fortress lurched forward, a seemingly impossible feat for the gargantuan fortress.

"When we reach operational altitude, activate DOC."

"Sir!"

"Aurelia..." The captain's voice, gritty like salt and rock gravel, carried the weight of the mission.

"This is the end for you."

***

Hundreds of miles along the peaceful blue sea and sapphire blue sky, a procession of planes fly, tangled in roaring strings; the trails of the beautiful fight to the death-- the dogfight.

"Gryphus One bagged another one!" An Aurelian fighter pilot exclaimed, happily.

The man known as Gryphus One to his comrades spotted the silhouette of another bomber. To maneuver behind it, he gains altitude, flipping inverted, waiting for the doomed bomber to get within perfect missile range. As he watches, the bomber flies ominously over a small city, and the bomb-bay doors begin to open.

"What are you doing!?" A Leasath bomber pilot yells to the comrade in the unsuspecting doomed bomber, "You're wasting ordinance!"

"Relax!", the pilot responds, "We're just going to go bomb some base in the sticks, right? There'll be plenty left to-- what!?"

A missile alert sounds.

Frantically the Leasath bomber pilot cranes his neck to see behind him. The sight shakes him to his core. A lone F-22 Raptor soars magnificently, a glint of light shines off a vertical stabilizer, like a spinning star heralding the coming death.

"IT'S--"

The bomber ignites spectacularly, in a ball of orange and yellow. Flames trail the falling debris. No parachute.

The flames in the sky are what blood is to a war-torn street.

"Damn!" A Leasath fighter pilot curses, maneuvering his MiG-27 behind the Southern Cross. Meanwhile, inside the cockpit of the F-22, the pilot, calm, pulls the air-brake. The F-22 freezes in place, which, to the Leasath pilot's horror, causes him to overshoot.

His eyes widen in terror as he turns and looks at the passing Raptor.. For a fraction of a second he sees it-- the mocking eyes of an eagle, in his beak, the star constellation forming a crucifix.

The Southern Cross fires his gun, and within seconds the enemy is lit ablaze.

"That's all of them!" AWACS Commander Eugene Solano said, on radio. "RTB!"

"Roger!" The Aurelian fighters acknowledged. "Damn! That Southern Cross, he really is the real deal!"

The compliment was lost on the ace however. His eyes were drawn to the ruins of the innocent town below him.

"It's already been 25 years..." The Ace said, listlessly.

----------------------------------------------------

[Next Episode Preview:]

The past follows the aces like an unshakable missile. One that even the Southern Cross may not be able to evade.

Next time, on Ace Combat X: Sky of Ashes, _The Inerasable Past_

Fly through the bombardment, Ace pilot!


	3. EP 3: The Inerasable Past

The skies of Hoffnung, June 1st, 1995. The Belkan War. After having pushed the Belkan forces out of Ustio, the allied forces begin an offensive bombing campaign against Belka.

A lone boy sprints across the debris infested ground, his feet aching. Fear instills in him the ability to run, near endlessly, desperately seeking shelter. He looks up at the blood-red sky, the planes of the Ustian Air Force looking down at him with disdain. His eyes are burned dry as fires blaze all across the sky and city, and yet his face is inundated with tears.

"Locke!" The small girl he has in tow calls to him, then falls to her knees.

"Amy!!" The boy yells, and stops, to pick her up. "Amy, we have to go!"

Amy looked up at him, her horrified eyes, wide as saucers, staring. Her face was stained with the mud created by tears and ash. Locke picked up the girl, carrying her on his back, the cool drops of tears tantalizing his neck.

Overhead the planes roll their death rolls, screaming, as balls of light briefly illuminate the sky, then hurdle towards the ground, shaking the streets as they impact.

"Why!?", the boy screams, standing in the rubble of his beloved town. Falling cinders flit about him like fireflies caught in a swirling updraft; as if the deep emotion of the boy manifests itself as a mini tornado.

"Why is this happening!?"

***

"Captain! We're approaching the battle zone."

"What's the status of the bomber unit?" The crew member pauses briefly, inputting a series of commands on a terminal in the Glepnir's bridge.

"Negative." She says, "They were all wiped out."

"Damn!" Tetsu growled, slamming his fist on the arm of the captain's chair. "Prepare the SWBM. Disengage DOC."

"Sir!"

The Aurelian fighters, heading back to Cape Aubrey, chatter excitedly over the radio about their first victory in the war. The man known as the Southern Cross however, remains silent. His plane, as if a living entity, shudders.

"I know. I feel it too. Something's wrong." The Ace says to his plane.

Through the canopy, the pristine blue sky suddenly ripples, and a hulking black monster of a plane, with menacing black wings catching the glare of the sun, begins to appear, slowly at first, in static-like specs of black and gray.

Meanwhile, inside the Glepnir's bridge, the crew prepares for the battle.

"DOC Disengaged!" A crew member calls out.

"Sir! SWBM launch port 7-- loaded!" The tactical officer announced.

"Good." Replied the Captain, "Fire!"

A missile launches from the top of the Glepnir, its trajectory completely vertical. Seconds later, the sky illuminates with a shock-wave rippling through the air and distorting the sky. Planes are instantly ignited.

In the Glepnir's hangar, the three young pilots sternly watch the massacre on a screen.

"So that's the power," Eun says, "The power of the Airborne Fortress, Glepnir."

"Report." The Captain commands.

"All Aurelian fighters have been annihilated." A girl says, staring down at her console.

"Wait," She says suddenly, "I'm picking up something on radar. It seems one plane evaded the shock-wave."

"What!?" The Captain exclaimed, "Do we have a visual!?"

The girl at the console nods. "I will up-link the visual to the main screen."

Seemingly from the ground, a lone plane emerges from the black smoke of his fallen comrades.  
An F-22 Raptor bearing the emblem of the Southern Cross.

The Captain laughed heartily. "So he evaded the shock-wave by diving down. Nemisis... or should I say, Southern Cross... You don't disappoint."

"Do we engage?" A crew member asks.

"No. I believe Diego Navarro will be satisfied with this show." The Captain responds. "Return to Terminus Island."

"Sir!"

----------------------------------------------------

[Next episode preview:]

Rest comes to the tired eyes weary of destruction. But the heart detects all too easily what the eyes must strain to see.

Next time, on Ace Combat X: Sky of Ashes, _Restless Reprieve_

Never hesitate, Ace pilot!


	4. EP 4: Restless Reprieve

"Man oh man! What a day!" The Glepnir's navigator yawns, leaning back in his chair at the helm of the Glepnir.

"You didn't even do anything!" The Glepnir's tactical operator yelled at him, "I swear, you can be so lazy sometimes, Laguna!"

Laguna frowned. "Didn't see _you_ doing anything, Violet!"

"Shut up both of you! The Captain is coming back!" The tactical officer yelled at both of them. The two quarreling crew members promptly quieted down.

"Tactical Officer Hensson." Captain Tetsu called, upon entering the Glepnir's bridge. All of the bridge's crew offered a salute.

"At ease. Have you finished with the Glepnir's maintenance yet?" Tetsu asked.

"Sir!", the tactical officer responded, "Yes Sir!"

"Good." The captain responded. "Have the maintenance crew load the Su-32's into the hangar bay. I think our pilots found the planes we provided them to be a bit out-dated."

"I will do so, sir." Hensson said.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to report to Commander Navarro."

Hensson looked down at the ground, sheepishly.

"Er, sir... If I may, what do you think of Navarro?"

The captain stopped, then said, glaring, "It's not my place to think anything of our honored leader. You'd do well to put any second thoughts you have of him out of mind. Understood?"

Hensson saluted nervously, "Y-yes sir! My apologies!"

***

"Be careful with those!" Sun yelled at the mechanics, nonchalantly loading ordinance meant for his custom Su-32 into the Glepnir.

"Damn punks, they're gonna ruin my plane..." He turned to see Stella, his pink haired comrade, heading off. She was dressed casually, sporting big, stylish sunglasses and a light green tank top.

"Where are you off to all jazzed up?" Sun asked, his eyes drifting slowly to rest on the girl's long, slender porcelain legs. Her shorts, torn mid thigh, did little to cover them up.

Stella threw a hard right hook, nailing the boy square on the cheek.

"Watch where you're looking!" She said, walking off. "I'm going off-base for a bit, see ya!"

Sun watched as she went, clutching her purse strap over one shoulder. Her butt rolled cutely as she walked.

"That's the thing with girls with sunglasses..." He said, shrugging as he rubbed his throbbing cheek.

"It makes it harder to get away with looking at them..."

***

The shower head shot small sharp pellets of cold water. The stinging droplets only provided a refreshing purging of the day's troubles to the recipient of the shower; A masochistic, pleasurable stinging sensation, but cleansing nonetheless.

Eun sighed, splashing water on his pale shoulders, which sloped the way the shoulders of demure geisha did.

Relaxation was short lived however, when the image of the flaming ruins of the Aurelian squadron flashed in his mind.

_It seems death is my omnipresent companion._ He thought, watching the mini torrent of water wash down the drain; his somber auburn eyes under cover of his silky-wet, jet black hair.

He shut his eyes, his mind drifting to the heart-aching place he could never resist revisiting.

The Leasath Civil War, November 25th, 2019. A squadron of F-117 nighthawks fly over a small Leasathian village.

"Alect-4. This Alect-1. We are reaching bombing destination. Commence operation. Over."

Eun looked down at the tiny, barely lit village.

"Alect-4 here. _This_ is the target? But it's just a small village..."

The buzz of the radio.

"Alect-4, this is a confirmed location of Aurelian sympathizers. We, the Alect Squadron, are Leasath's elite ace squadron. We are the angels of the sky that carry out the will of our Revered Leader, Diego Navarro. Destroy the enemy. That is all."

Eun gritted his teeth, his fingers hovering gingerly over the controls to arm the bombs.

"This is Alect-2!" A voice clad in southern drawl boomed on the radio, "Looks like the new blood can't handle the mission! I'll commence bombing!"

The dark abyss that was the sky roared with the sound of planes. A child looking out the window of a house in the unsuspecting village can't figure out the source of the sound.

"Mommy," He says, "The sky is angry..."

Bombs fall from the sky, and the town is instantly drowned in a sea of flame.

***

"I trust that the expo went well?" Captian Tetsu Calibrunus said, pouring a glass of vintage brandy into a foggy glass.

"Indeed it did." The gritty voice of Dictator Diego Navarro sounded from a computer screen.

"A wonderful display you provided to the Aurelian people. Their hope being vaporized like that."

"I'm just glad you're pleased, honored leader." The captain said, bowing his head slightly, and raising his glass.

"Yes, the first component of our plan to realize Leasath's destiny has been revealed to the people. How is our 'second component' coming along?"

Tetsu looked out the window of his office to the skies muddied with purple and blue and orange.

"Our second component is coming along perfectly."

***

"Wooooow so pretty!" Stella beamed, holding up a blue and white striped blouse. "I think I'll take this one too!"

"Of course, please allow me to bag that for you!" The shop clerk said, smiling.

"Thank you!" Stella says, smiling as she looks out the window.

Blue and orange bled together as one, as the sun made its way to retire under the horizon. Over the beautiful sight, planes fly, heading to Terminus Island's air force base.

Yuna Ito's "Ashes like Snow" plays, muffled in Stella's vibrating purse.

"A call?" Stella says, digging out her phone from her chaotic purse by it's dainty cellphone-charm; a hello kitty doll holding a fighter pilot's helmet.

"Hello!" Stella beams.

"Not so loud." Eun says, at the other end of the line, a towel draped over his wet hair and dripping wet shoulders.

"Come back now. The Glepnir is going to Puma Base."

"Okay!" Stella says, cheerfully, and snatches the cluster of bloated shopping bags from the clerk.

"Hmm..." Stella wondered, "What's to do at the Puma Plains? Sounds boring! Oh well. If Eunie says so..."

----------------------------------------------------


	5. EP 5: Destined Encounter

The pilots and crew members of the Airborne Fortress Glepnir, minus two female members waited in inpatient silence for the mission briefing to begin.

Sun twirled his vermilion hair around one finger, thoroughly bored, as Eun leaned on a wall opposite of him, arms crossed.

"Women... Am I right?" Laguna said, ending the silence, albeit, awkwardly.

"Shut up." The two boys, as well as Tactical Officer Hensson said in unison. Laguna hung his head and sighed.

"Some girls take longer than others..." The Captain said.

***

"Stella! Hurry it up!" Violet yelled at the young pilot. She was juggling a pile of shopping bags filled to the point of tearing.

"I know, I know!" Stella groaned, dropping the bags all at once in her quarters. The crumpled bags fell in a heap on the ground. Violet stood in the doorway, pointing to her closet.

"Your uniform." She reminded the ditsy pink haired girl.

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Stella yelled, frantically tearing her clothes off as she made her way to the closet. Violet looked into the doorway cautiously, then walked in and shut the door to protect the privacy of the changing girl.

"Hey Stella..." Violet said nonchalantly, gazing into the mirror and primping her short chestnut hair, "You and that Eun guy..."

Stella stopped to look at Violet, her pink and white striped bra peeking out from under her partially zipped up uniform. "Huh?"

"Are you two lovers?"

Stella laughed, and finished zipping up her uniform.

"He's my onii-chan." Stella replied.

"What is that? Another language?" Violet asked, raising an eye-brow.

"I'll teach you later!" Stella said with a wink, and ran out the door.

"Hey wait!" Violet yelled after her. Stella stopped and turned around.

"What?"

Violet pointed.

"No pants."

***

The men of the Glepnir crew were still waiting quietly. The silence was broken occasionally by scattered yawning or shuffling of their restless feet. The captain however, was his usual stony self. The door slowly swung open. Through the doorway walked a tall woman, with flowing indigo hair. She stopped and saluted.

"AWACS Officer Lousie Okina. Reporting." She said sternly, in a husky voice. Sun and Laguna stared blankly at her, their mouths ajar. Her sleepy, azure eyes scanned the room.

"Welcome aboard." Tetsu said, returning the salute.

"Yes! Welcome!" Laguna beamed. Louise seemed to ignore him.

"Shall we begin?" She said, leaning over to pull down the screen on which the mission briefing was to be projected.

"We're uh… still waiting on a few people..." Sun said, his head at an angle as he gawked at the AWACS officer's rear-end. The sounds of loud running foot steps and someone yelling "Don't run!" echoed into the briefing room from outside the hallway.

"Sorry we're late!" Stella said to everyone as she burst into the room. Violet ran in after her and then saluted. "Tactical Officer-- Violet Pendleton reporting! We err, are late on account of um--" She paused to look at Stella.

"Lady problems!" Stella chimed in. The Captain grimaced.

"Right. Meet your new AWACS Officer, Louise Okina." Tetsu said, indicating towards the quiet, stoic woman in the front of the room.

"Pleased to meet you!" The two girls greeted, saluting.

"She's pretty!" Stella whispered to Violet, as Violet nodded.

"Now that we're all here," Louise began, "Intelligence indicates that a small Aurelian ground element is positioned at this point, called 'Stand Canyon'." She pointed at the spot on the strategic map with a laser pointer.

"Our objective is to use the Glepnir's long range bombardment capabilities to support the mop-up operation of the Aurelian ground troops in conjunction with air and land forces we already have currently deployed in the area. For this mission, Alect-4, Alect-5 and Alect-6 will aid in maintaining air superiority in the operation area, but the priority is still the defense of the Glepnir."

The projector shut off as Louise ended the briefing.

"Any questions?", Lousie asked, again, scanning the room with her sad cobalt eyes.

"No? Then good luck, and please return safely."

Meanwhile, miles from the battle zone, deep inside a fortress on the Danern Straits, a scientist observes data being projected in real time on a screen.

"ADOS Output at 60%... it's dropping steadily." A scientist sitting at a computer calls out. The head scientist adjusts his thick, circular glasses and squints at the screen.

_Damn... we can't seem to replicate the Glepnir's DOS on a smaller scale..._ He thought, frowning. He looked through the window overlooking the hangar for experimental aircraft. Inside, an aircraft whose frightening ability the world had yet to see was hooked up to a bevy of wires and computer hardware.

In the cockpit, the ace Leasathian pilot known as Alect-1 looked up at the head scientist and shook his head.

***

"Our first mission!" Sun said, grinning as he made his way to his custom painted Su-32. "Finally!"

Stella jumped into her cockpit enthusiastically, flashing the victory sign with a wink as the maintenance crew closed her canopy.

"They're acting like a bunch of kids." Eun said, climbing into his cockpit.

"Condition Red Issued. Condition Red Issued. Pilots please prepare for mid-air launch.", Violet's voice echoed on the P.A.

"Sir!" Laguna called out to the captain, "We have reached operation point."

"Commence launching of the Alect Squadron."

"Roger that!" Violet said.

"Alect Squadron, you are clear for takeoff. Good luck!" She said to Eun via radio.

"Alect-4 here, roger that. Launching." Eun said. He punched the throttle, causing the plane to shoot forward and out the hangar bay doors into the wild blue sky. Behind him, Sun and Stella's Su-32's began to take off as well.

"Alect-5 here. I'm going." Sun said, taking off. He executed a showy barrel roll as he cleared the vicinity of the Glepnir, grinning.

"Alect-6! Taking off!" Stella chimed. She accelerated her plane through the hangar runway, the white light of the exit rapidly approaching until she felt the liberating rush of flight hit her.

"This is AWACS Officer Louise Okina. My codename will be Vesper. Please refer to me as that from here on out."

"Got it!" Sun said on his radio.

"Enemy aircraft approaching. Intercept them and protect the Glepnir!" Louise commanded.

"Roger!" The three pilots responded and immediately gained altitude.

"Alect Squadron. This is Alect-4," Eun said on radio, "This is our chance to show everyone what we can do. Don't screw up."

Sun laughed. "Quit acting like Alect-1!"

The three Su-32's flew up through the clouds, the glaring light of the sun at their backs.

"Alect-5", Eun said, communicating on the radio, "Disperse the enemy fighters, Alect-6, you and I will attack from the sun.

"Roger!"

The red-winged Su-32 dove in on the attacking Aurelian fighters, attempting to break their formation, as Eun and Stella continued to gain more altitude in their Su-32's.

"It's the enemy!" An Aurelian fighter pilot shouted, "We have to buy some time!"

"I'm going to blast you all myself!" Sun called out on the radio to the enemies as he switched to his XLAA missiles.

"Die! Die! Die!!" He screamed, laughing as he rapidly fired all four of the missiles at the Aurelian fighters.

"Alect-5! What are you doing? You were only supposed to disperse the enemy!" Eun scolded as he began his attack.

The missiles screamed towards the enemy fighters, every bit as wild and erratic as the pilot who had fired them.

"Missile!" The Aurelian lead shouted, "Everyone—". Radio silence. Sun watched as two of his missiles smashed into the fuselage of the , Sun continued accelerating head on into the Aurelian formation, hugging the trigger of his gun.

"Disperse!" An Aurelian fighter pilot commanded, and obediently the other four F-15E's scattered.

"Played right into our hands." Eun said, coldly. "Alect-6 we're commencing attack, Alect-5, converge with Alect-6." With that, he kicked in his afterburners and headed into the fray already created by Sun's impulsive attack.

"Roger Alect-4!" Stella said, kicking in the afterburners and dipping the nose of her Su-32 slightly ahead of the dispersing enemy fighters, allowing her to travel in a flight path that would intercept that of her enemy's. The Aurelian F-15E spotted the two attacking Su-32's, and frantically broke hard right, trying to prevent a lock. Meanwhile, his wingman broke hard left, then right, then left, trying to prevent Sun's Su-32 from getting a bead on him with his gun.

"Stupid gun! Hit! Hit!" Sun screamed at his aircraft, wincing as he endured the G's inflicted on him as he kept up with the F-15E's erratic evasion maneuvers.

"Damn it, Alect-5! I thought I told you to converge with our attack!" The angry young pilot yelled at his comrade, then gritted his teeth.

"Fine" Eun said, "We'll do it without him. Anyway, it seems the enemy seems to have forgotten the Su-32's superior maneuverability. Alect-6, flank the bandit."

"Roger!" Stella said, turning the Su-32 on its side and banking sharply. She grimaced as her G-suit inflated, squeezing her limbs to prevent all of her blood from rushing to her head. She struggled to keep her eyes on the enemy as everything around her seem to fade more and more into a peaceful white blur.

"B-banking at that speed!?" The Aurelian fighter pilot exclaimed, in an equal mix of awe and despair. He continued his turn, taking his share of G's. At the end of the maneuver, Stella found herself too close to the F-15E, in danger of overshooting.

"This is my chance!" The Aurelian fighter pilot said, flying up and breaking to bleed off airspeed.

"And this is mine—" Eun said, putting two missiles into the cockpit of the enemy F-15E.

"Hmph" Eun scoffed, then scolded Stella. "You're being too reckless Alect-6. He would have had you."

Stella laughed sheepishly. "He _might_ have. But don't you remember what they used to call me back at Leasath Fighter Academy?"

"Prissy brat?" Eun answered, listlessly. Stella growled, smacking her flight console.

"No! They called me 'The Queen of Evasion'!". Eun snickered.

"What's so funny!?"

One by one, the Aurelian fighters hurdled to the ground in balls of fire or flaming debris.

"Just one more…" Sun said to himself grinning. "Hey, Aurelian." He said, addressing the Aurelian fighter pilot in the smoking F-15E he had on missile lock. "You're going to die." Sun cackled, shooting his gun in little bursts at the F-15E's wing tips and vertical stabilizer.

"M-monster!" The Aurelian pilot shouted. Suddenly the beep that signaled an incoming transmission sounded.

"Alect Squadron this is Vesper!" Louise called to them on radio, "The mission… it was a failure…"

"What!?" Sun exclaimed, "What happened!?"

"It was.. N-Nemesis…", was all Louise could say before a missile alert sounded in Sun's cockpit.

"Missile!?" Sun said, panicking as he jerked the controls to evade.

"Where!? ARGH!—" The aircraft shook violently as the missile flew into the red tipped wing of the Su-32, clipping it nearly clean off. Sun screamed as he hurdled back to earth, spinning in every direction as he went.

"It's him!" The Aurelian fighter pilot shouted joyfully. Above them, the clouds parted. Through the crown created by the clouds, the lone F-22 descended upon them, the emblem of the Southern Cross glowing in the Aurelian sunlight.

----------------------------------------------------

[Next episode preview:]

The threads of the Aces' destinies are finally sewn together. In this encounter, the Aces that see the battle through to the end risk being swallowed by the sky.

Next time, on Ace Combat X: Sky of Ashes, "Destined Encounter Pt. II"

Fight to the bloody conclusion, Ace pilot!


	6. EP 6: Destined Encounter Pt II

"Alect-5!!!!" Eun screamed into his radio, his eyes wide in disbelief as the Su-32 of his squadron mate plummeted below the clouds, piercing them with a spiral of black smoke. Red pieces of burnt, flaming wing trailed his path towards the ground.

"Damn!" Eun cursed, punching the afterburners, "Stella!" He screamed over the radio. The pink haired girl was momentarily stunned by the blatant outburst. Eun was never one to forget using code names when in the field.

"Y-yes!" She stammered.

"Arm your QAAM. This bastard isn't going down easily."

"Yes!" She said, switching to her special weapon. Eun looked over at his HUD.

"I've got 4 shots." He said to himself, conscious of any shaking in his voice. He flew up, gaining altitude, knowing full well that higher altitudes allowed for more room for maneuvering, and that his plane had the advantage at higher altitudes. He looked over, down at the clouds below, spotting the faint glimmer of the Southern Cross' Raptor. Wincing, Eun pushed the stick over, turning inverted and diving after the Raptor. The Raptor immediately broke hard left, diving as it went.

"St- Alect-6!" Eun called, "Flank him now!"

"Roger!"

The Southern Cross craned his neck and saw another Su-32 intercepting his flight path behind him.

"Warning." The HUD's cold emotionless voice sounded in the cockpit.

The F-22 continued breaking hard, bleeding altitude as it went. The two Su-32's followed, determined to get a good missile lock on the F-22. They raced toward the earth in a deadly spiral. Soon they cleared the clouds, revealing the canyons of the Puna Plains below.

***

"Dammit!" Tetsu cursed, clenching his fist. "What is the status of the Alect squadron!?"

Violet looked over at her console. Her eyes widened.

"Sir! Alect-4 and Alect-6 are currently engaged with one F-22 Raptor, Alect-5 is..."

"Hey! I need to land!" It was Sun's voice, booming throughout the bridge on radio.

"Put it on screen!" Tetsu commanded.

The screen flicked on, and the dreamlike sight took the crew's breath away. The silhouette of an Su-32, unreal, angelic, almost, covered in the veil of its own black smoke. It was missing one wing.

"How the hell!?", said Laguna, mouth agape. Tetsu turned to the crew.

"Well!? Prepare the hangar bay for an emergency landing! Now!"

"S-sir!" Violet said, then went on the P.A.

"Hangar crew, please prepare for emergency landing." In the hangar, the maintenance crew looked up at the speaker, and then on screen in disbelief.

"M-missing a wing!?" A crew member said. The maintenance chief yelled to all the crew.

"What are you doing!? Get those god damn fire extinguishers ready!"

***

"Warning. Pull Up." The HUD alert in Stella's cockpit droned in her ears over and over. She and Eun had followed the F-22 right to the deck. Eun looked over uneasily at the ground as it rushed by.

"Just one mistake." He said to himself, "All it takes is one mistake. And you're dead."

The two Su-32's struggled to keep up with the F-22's inhuman evasive maneuvers, but both ace pilots knew that at an altitude this low, it would just be a matter of time until the Southern Cross would run out of options.

"Why?" Stella said, frustrated, "Why can't I get a good lock!?" She growled. Her finger hovered over the trigger. But the target reticule seemed to glide anywhere but the enemy F-22 as she followed it through more and more of his death-defying aerial maneuvers.

The three planes weaved their way through narrow canyons, skimmed over the rocky unforgiving canyon floor. They came to a plateau in the rocky plains where the F-22 would be forced to gain altitude.

"You're mine now." Eun said, cutting off Stella and positioning himself behind the Southern Cross.

The F-22 pulled up sharply to avoid the coming plateau. The targeting system hummed definitively.

"NEMESIS! DIE!" Eun screamed, but before he could fire, he saw two tanks the size of missiles hurled backwards at his cockpit.

"What!? He jettisoned his fuel!?" He jerked the stick to the side, spinning the Su-32 over. The tanks hurled themselves into the Su-32, causing the plane to erupt into flaming bits and pieces.

Stella pulled up sharply to avoid the debris, flying through the explosion amplified by the ignited fuel tanks. Disoriented, she looked around, both to see if Eun had escaped, and for the Southern Cross.

Eun flinched at the cutting wind, hitting him as he flew through the air in his ejected pilot seat at 800 mph. The world roared and spun around him, the flaming debris of his destroyed plane pursuing him. Horrified, he undid his safety harness and pushed himself from the chair, desperate to deploy his chute. He frantically pulled the chord, causing a bright red parachute to fly out, slowing his decent. But he had bailed from his plane far too low. Hitting the ground at his current speed would still kill him.

He spotted the river that snaked through the canyons below him. Praying, he steered his chute into the teeth of the unforgiving canyon.

Stella frantically looked around, breathing hard as she searched for any sign of the F-22.

"Is he gone!?" She said, and not a moment after, the HUD made the terrifying alert.

"Warning! Missile Alert!" It echoed over and over. Stella looked behind her, spotting two streaks in the sky about to collide with the tailpipe of her Su-32. Deftly, she executed a barrel roll, and watched in awe as the missiles passed over her canopy. The Southern Cross passed over her, raking the fuselage and canopy of her beaten Su-32 with lead. Stella screamed and shut her eyes as the canopy shattered.

Stella's right arm seemed to go numb. She looked over at her arm, and realized it was bleeding. Embedded in the blood-stained olive green g-suit, penetrating deep into the flesh of her slender arm was a piece of shrapnel.

"Aircraft Damaged!" The HUD droned, barely audible over the screaming sound of the rushing wind. It showed on screen the affected area. Her ailerons had been fatally damaged. There was no hope to out maneuver the Southern Cross now.

The F-22 glimmered in the dying orange sunlight as it turned around, poising itself for one final head-on pass.

"There's still one more way I can win--" She said to herself wincing at the pain in her arm. She looked over at her HUD. She had 1 QAAM left. Gritting her teeth, she punched in the afterburners, with the full intention of seeing this game of chicken with the Southern Cross to its inevitably fiery conclusion. She would accelerate towards the F-22 at full speed, firing her gun, then, at the last second, launch a QAAM. If the Southern Cross didn't maneuver out of the circle target reticule on Stella's HUD, he would catch a missile right in the cockpit.

Violet's eyes widened. "Alect-4 is.... down..."

The crew looked over at Violet in disbelief.

"Well, do you know if he managed to eject!?" Tetsu asked. Violet looked down at the floor, her eyes softening.

"If so... he was too low for the chute to slow him down enough..."

"Damn that Southern Cross..." Tetsu cursed.

***

The flaming Su-32 skimmed its way into the hangar, flaming as it went. It crashed in a pile of water filled crash barrels, which safely slowed its landing. The crash exploded in a cloud of cool mist, the fires on the plane hissing as they died.

The maintenance crew swarmed to the scene, putting out any remaining fires with extinguishers. They pried open the canopy, only to be knocked back by Sun, who jumped out of the cockpit.

"What happened to Nemesis!?" He screamed to a maintenance crew member.

"Where is Stella and Eun!?" The maintenance crew member shook his head and shrugged.

The Southern Cross looked on at the wounded Su-32 with somber eyes. Old, tired eyes, weary of the death witnessed as he strained this tired eyes to look for the enemy in the bright sky.

"This feeling..." He said to himself. The Su-32 came closer and closer.

June 7th 1995. Just days after the bombing of Huffnung. 13 year old Locke De La Crux looked down at the head of the sleeping young girl in his lap. Her bangs, over grown, fell over her eyes, crusted with dried tears. Her face was smeared with ashes.

He looked out back through canopy of the refugee truck he was in. The town shrunk, yet still shook with the sounds of explosions. Far off in the sky, an Ustian plane approached, coming closer and closer. Bullets whizzed around the truck.

"He's going to kill us!" A refugee shrieked. Locke stared at the cockpit of the plane, his eyes burning with malice.

Suddenly, the plane was engulfed in flames, crashing just behind the truck. The refugees screamed, horrified. Through the smoke of the destroyed Ustian plane, an F-15C emerged, hovering almost, behind the refugee truck. It's wing was painted red.

Locke looked up at the plane in awe. He felt the eyes of the pilot return his gaze, before flying up and back into the hellish red sky above Huffnung.

"Amy," he said to her, quietly so that he couldn't be heard over the sobbing and murmuring of the other refugees around him, "We'll never see war again."

The Southern Cross blinked. The targeting reticule turned red, and the HUD began to hum.

He fired his gun over the canopy of the Su-32, then broke off the flight path. Stella watched the F-22 as it disappeared into the sky towards Cape Aubrey.

"Why...?" She said to herself.

"Alect-6!" It was Louise's voice. "Alect-6! Are you alright!? Return to the Glepnir immediately!"

"I'm okay," Stella answered weakly, "I'm returning now..."

--------------------------------------

[Next episode preview:]

Survivors of the battle, both Aurelian and Leasathian grieve for their losses.

Next time, on Ace Combat X: Sky of Ashes, "The Grieving Sky"

Fly to regain what you've lost, Ace Pilot!


	7. EP 7: The Grieving Sky

_Out beyond the water's edge  
Far out past the coral ledge  
Underneath the diamond dancing light_

_Chase the world from far below  
Silent sleeping in they go  
Drifting down into the endless night..._

Eun looked over at the beautiful girl as she sung the hypnotic melody. She was engulfed in light. The girl walked over to him, smiling.

"Eunice Vesperia..." She said soothingly, sitting beside him, leaning over him, her inky, livid hair cascading over him softly.

***

The boy awoke with a start, gasping. As he sat up, he felt a stabbing pain in his side. He looked down, and found his entire side bandaged, his left arm in a sling, and right leg in a cast. He quickly laid back down, gasping in pain as he felt his forehead. His head was partly wrapped in a bandage.

His eyes spun around, scanning his surroundings. He found himself in a dark, cozy room, cluttered with all the common fixtures of a teenage girl's room-- pictures of groups of cheerful girls, pictures taken in photo booths, stuffed animals...

He heard footsteps coming towards the room. Thinking quickly, he jumped from the bed, instinctively grabbing for the survival knife in his left pocket but finding nothing. Instead, he grabbed a gel pen from the table beside him and hurried into the closet to hide as the door creaked open.

A young girl walked in, who couldn't be any older than 16. Her auburn hair was done up in a pony tail, the ends of which frayed outward. She was carrying a tray with a small ham sandwich complete with olive and toothpick and the middle. She smiled, knowing the boy she and her mother had taken in had finally woken up, albeit shaken enough to hide from her. Her eyes scanned the room, acting as if she _didn't_ know he was hiding in the closet behind her.

The boy leaped from the closet, his arm around the thin neck of the girl, threatening her, albeit vainly, with the cute flower decorated gel pen.

"Who are you!? Where am I!?" He demanded, pressing the pen into the girl's neck. She just scoffed at him, rolling her eyes.

"Planning to dismember me with my flower pen?" She joked. The girl then spun around to face the dismayed boy.

"The least you can do is thank me. But I'm happy you're finally awake, Soma!"

"Err.." The boy paused, confused.

"You really should be thanking _me_," A woman's voice in the doorway behind them said. The boy turned around, seeing a woman, possibly in her mid 30's leaning in the doorway. Her arms were folded and she wore a pea-green turtle neck under a worn lab coat.

"Mama!" The girl said, running to her. She turned and pointed.

"This stupid boy tried to kill me with my flower pen, see?" She lifted her tiny chin to show the laughable hot pink line of ink on her neck. The boy held up the flower pen and looked at it. It said, "Love Love Power" on it.

"Um..." He dropped the pen and bowed modestly, "I'm sorry."

The woman in the doorway chuckled as she pushed up her black framed glasses.

"Sit down and eat, please" She said.

***

Stella stared off blankly at the sky through the window in her quarters. Her mind constantly playing over the scene in her head-- the F-22 Raptor, the fuel tanks, Eun's plane exploding. She held up her hand to the sunlight. It shook involuntarily. The wound she sustained from the shrapnel in her last dogfight against the Southern Cross had permanently damaged the nerves in her arm. Her flying skills would forever be hindered.

It had been 3 weeks since the memorial for Eun had been held. Since then, the Aurelian armed forces had scored a string of victories all owed to the efforts of the Southern Cross. Now, Fort Patterson and Puma Base had all been taken back by the enemy forces. It was just a matter of time until Aurelian forces made their way to Terminus Island to fight the Glepnir.

The door creaked open slightly.

"Stella..." It was Violet. The pink haired girl sitting in the light of the window didn't seem to respond at all. The pink locks of hair, normally long and cascading freely over her narrow shoulders were now cut short, frayed, and lifeless. Violet looked down at the ground around Stella's wheelchair and saw the lifeless pink locks of hair scattered all around the floor. A pair of scissors lay with them.

Violet sat on the bed. "Alex is here," She said, trying to be cheerful.

"Alect-1." Stella said, listlessly.

"That's right." Violet said, scooting closer to the girl at the window.

"He wants to see you're doing."

"I'll go later." Stella said. Violet nodded sadly and left, shutting the door slowly behind her.

***

The boy named Soma took small bites of the ham sandwich, which, to his distaste, was too salty.

"Is it okay?" The girl across from him asked, fidgeting in her seat with her hands in her lap.

Soma nodded.

"Good!" She said happily.

"You don't have to lie--" Her mother said, smirking, "I'll get you some water."

The red haired girl puffed up her cheeks.

"Whatever. Oh! I forgot! I'm Mirillia. Mirillia Seol." She held out her hand to shake, then realized Soma's arm was in a sling. Soma stared at the outstretched hand awkwardly.

"Err--" Mirillia retracted her hand and scratched her head.

"That's my mama, Edith". Soma nodded.

"Thank you for the meal," Soma said, sliding his chair back and got up. He forgot his leg was in a cast and immediately fell.

"Be careful!" The girl said, dropping her fork and catching him. The fork clattered against the porcelain plate as it fell. Edith popped her head in from the kitchen to check on the two in the dining room. Soma leaned against the smaller girl, holding her shoulder for support. Edith smiled.

Mirillia helped Soma back into the chair.

"Stop trying to overexert yourself, okay?" She said, checking Soma's bandages.

"S-sorry." He said, looking over at the floor. He shut his eyes, clutching his aching forehead.

"I... can't remember anything..." Said Soma.

"Why don't you go back to bed?" Mirillia urged soothingly as she patted Soma's shoulder. Soma nodded, and Mirillia helped him onto his good leg.

***

Sun's eyes darted back and forth over the horizon frantically.

"Where the hell is he!?" He cursed to himself, turning the stick and banking sharply.

"Warning!" The HUD yelled at him. Sun turned to see him-- Nemesis himself, in his F-22 Raptor. 2 streaks of smoke trailed from the Raptor straight into the tailpipe of the Su-32, igniting it instantly.

"Mission Failed."

The screen died down to black, and the door to the simulation pod opened.

"That makes 42 losses and 2 wins." Louise said over the speaker. Sun looked up at the slender indigo haired woman in the window above him.

"Run it again!" Sun commanded, and slammed the pod door shut.

"He's been at it all day..."

"He can't handle the way he lost to Nemesis." Louise said, leaning over the console controlling the Flight Simulation Pods. She looked over at the blond haired man leaning on the wall behind her. He smirked.

"Perhaps you should give it a try." Louise said, addressing the man.

The man's ears perked up.

"After all, you're Alect Squadron's lead, aren't you? Alex Vanderburen."

Alex opened the door and went downstairs, into the training room with all the simulation pods lined up in rows. After he left, Louise exhaled sharply, shutting her eyes.

"If only..." She said to herself, her eyes watering. She slammed down hard on the console with her fist.

"Why did I have to be such a weak AWACS officer!? If only I was stronger... Eun and Stella would..."

She fell to her knees, sobbing, her shiny royal blue hair flowing like liquid through her fingers as she grabbed tufts of her hair.

***

"See, my mama and I are part of the Aurelian Liberation Forces here." Mirillia said, sitting on the bed beside Soma.

"I see." He said, staring up at the ceiling.

"The ALF people are a little light on manpower." She continued, "So sometimes we help. Mostly with humanitarian stuff. Evacuating war zones, tending to the wounded, that kind of stuff. We found you beat up pretty bad a little outside Puma while we were helping some people escape the battle zone."

Soma looked up at the girl.

"So you know who I am?"

Mirillia turned away from him.

"Well..." She said. Soma sat up attentively.

"We figured you were an Aurelian fighter pilot who got shot down during the battle there."

"Is Soma.. my name?"

"That's what your uniform said anyway." Mirillia said, shrugging and got up to leave. She turned the lights off and shut the door behind her. Soma shut his eyes, trying hard to remember anything of his past.

***

The head scientist of the Danern Straits' Archelon fortress shifted in his seat nervously.

"Sir," He said, addressing the man known as Diego Navarro on the screen. "It is my honest opinion that we will not be able to adapt the Digital Optical Camoflauge to the secret weapon within the time line as planned."

The wrinkled corners of Navarro's face twitched.

"Damn you," Navarro cursed, "The Aurelians are going to catch up to the Glepnir any day now! You mean to say you've worked for this long and haven't achieved _anything_ yet!?"

"Well sir that is just not true," The scientist said, "We can implement the DOS on the experimental aircraft, but it won't work without an external power source... And we don't have to manpower or the resources to duplicate the power source we have here on this island and implement it in other operation areas..."

"So you mean to tell me that we can only use Fenrir to its full capability within the confines of the Danern Straits?!" Navarro's voice boomed. The scientist flinched.

"Yes..."

The screen went dead. The scientist sighed.

***

"Let's go, Soma!" Mirillia called from the driveway.

"Ah, okay!" Soma called back, struggling to balance himself on his crutches while reaching for the doorknob.

Edith reached over him for the doorknob, brushing up against him. She opened the door, momentarily blinding the two with the bright glare of the morning Aurelian sun. Edith smiled at Soma.

"Ready to go?" She said, squeezing his shoulders. Soma nodded, smiling weakly.

"Yeah" He said, and Edith guided him out the door to the rusty red pickup truck in the driveway.

It had already been 3 weeks since he had first woken up in the Seol's house. Since then, he had grown quite accustomed to the two.

"I can't believe you're already going to take your cast off!" Mirillia beamed as she sat between Edith who was driving and Soma, in the passenger seat.

"It's not like he _broke _his leg..." Edith said, as she put the truck in drive.

"I know it was just twisted and all.. It's just I'm happy for him, okay?" Mirillia smiled as she looked up at Soma.

"Just wait until you meet the other girls at the base! They're going to be so jealous!" She squealed.

"W-what do you mean by that?" He said, confused. Mirillia elbowed him.

"You're hot, duh..." she said. Edith rolled her eyes.

"I'm surprised," Mirillia continued, "A little haircut, a shower... you clean up nice."

"When did he take a shower!?" Edith asked, raising a brow. Soma gulped and looked out the window.

"I sorta helped him last night!" Mirillia said with a wink, hugging his arm.

"Uh huh..." Edith said.

"Don't worry!" Mirillia laughed, waving her hand, "He was a perfect gentleman." She mockingly imitated his voice--

"He was all like, 'Why are _your _clothes off' and 'Is it okay to look now?' He kept saying that! It was so funny!"

"Err..." Was all Soma could say.

The truck came across a city ravaged by war. Citizens were in the streets helping with the rebuilding efforts. Soma looked around somberly. There were elderly people sitting on apartment stoops, head in hand, overwhelmed by the destruction. Children, alone, cried in the streets or played among the rubble. Adults scolded them and went back to replacing broken windows, or clearing streets of debris.

The truck rolled to a stop in front of a rusted warehouse. At the entrance surrounded by shoddy barbed wire fences were two men dressed like civilians, around their shoulder, a strap from which hung an AK-47. Edith stuck her arm out and waved to them. The two men acknowledged her and opened the gate for her.

"Oh boy... you gonna behave yourself?" One guard said, grinning at Mirillia, who stuck her tongue out at him.

The truck headed into the complex.

"So this is the ALF's base..." Soma said to himself. He frowned. Something seemed off. He felt daggers in his chest.

----------------------------------------------------

[Next episode preview:]

The fate of the amnesiac survivor of the battle against Leasath is inevitably tied to the sky, and the death of a fallen comrade profoundly alters the destiny of the Alect Squadron.

Next time, on Ace Combat X: Sky of Ashes, "The Changing Wind"

Fly along the winds of fate, Ace pilot!


	8. EP 8: The Changing Winds

The world flipped over-- the earth slid beneath him; the sky rolled over him, as he pulled hard on the stick.

Alex Vanderburen, also known as Alect-1, smiled as he rolled his eyes up to follow the silhouette of the F-22 raptor in front of him. The target reticule glided over the F-22, beeping red for an instant, then sliding again.

"I've almost got you..." He said to himself. Suddenly white trails in the sky streaked over his canopy, one of which collided with the vertical stabilizer of the F-22. The raptor spun erratically, its tail-end flaming as it hurdled towards the earth. The canopy flew open, and from it the pilot seat was ejected, followed by a red and white parachute.

"Hmph." Alex scoffed, and turned behind him to see a red-winged Su-32.

"Kill stealer," Alex said, as the simulation ended. Sun opened the door to the simulation pod and stepped out. He slammed a fist against the side of the pod.

"Damn, it wasn't a lethal shot..." Sun cursed. Since Alex and Sun had begun training against the Southern Cross' battle data, Sun's record had raised to 77 losses and 17 wins. Alex boasted 12 losses and 8 wins.

"If you can shoot down Nemesis non-lethally, then you should be able to shoot him down and kill him too. Or, if you want, fire at the bastard's chute." Alex said, pausing to take a sip of water from a water bottle.

Sun gritted his teeth.

"Don't piss me off--" He said, and stormed out.

"Mission briefing at 0600!" Alex called after him, then sat back inside the simulation pod.

***

Mirillia dragged Soma along as they followed Edith to the entrance to the ALF base. They stopped in front of the entrance guarded by another set of two casually dressed rebel soldiers, one, not much younger than Soma. He had a sour expression on his face. Edith nodded to them, and they opened the doors. The three walked in, and were welcomed by a rugged man, whose brown, gray peppered beard imposed on him a sort of authoritative aura.

"Edie," He greeted with his rough voice, "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, Azrael." Edith replied. The old man looked over at Soma.

"Is this the downed Aurelian pilot you rescued?" He said. His demeanor somehow reminded Soma of someone, but he still couldn't remember anything of his past.

"Yes." Edith said. Azrael's tired, weary eyes seem to sadden even more. He nodded.

"Come." He said, and led Edith away to a separate room. Edith stopped, and turned around.

"Why don't you show Soma around?" Edith said, and Mirillia gladly accepted.

"Okay!" She said, dragging Soma off once more.

***

Stella slid deeper into the soapy water, her eyes sleepily fixed on the suds, fizzing and dying out, slowly revealing the water underneath. Her delicate porcelain shoulders were like islands in the sudsy water. Stella ran her cold, smooth fingers through the ends of her hair. The pale pink locks, once lifeless and frayed became wet and slick. The scent of fresh strawberries clung to the mist in the air.

Before Eun and Sun, there were only two other people Stella considered family, people who, in her mind were now reduced to nothing but the fading colors of a faint memory; a smiling man whose chin stubble had tickled her whenever he kissed her as a small girl, and a woman who sang the most beautiful melodies, who made her feel safe. These dying memories were like her mother and father. Of the two boys who she treated like brothers, only Sun remained. Eun too was degrading into nothing but a dying memory.

Stella reached for a bottle of bath soap. Her trembling fingers knocked the bottle over, spilling the lucid, pink syrup into the water. The soap flowed into the water like a ribbon. She grabbed her trembling hand and cradled it, crying softly.

"Sun," She said between soft, quiet sobs, "Please don't leave me too..."

***

"How much does he remember?" Azrael said, gazing out the window away from Edith.

"Nothing since we found him." Edith said. Azrael nodded.

"Should... we notify the upper echelon in the Aurelian Air Force?" Edith asked. Azrael frowned, thinking hard.

"No," He said after a pause, "It's better we let everyone continue thinking that Soma is K.I.A. We can use his skills to our advantage."

"You mean..."

"Yes," Azrael said, "The ALF is in the process of attaining fighters. Once we get some planes, Soma's skills as an ace will be invaluable."

"So you plan to send him back into the sky..." Edith said, a slight tone of sadness in her voice escaped, not unnoticed by the wise, older man.

"Despise me if you wish." Azrael said. Edith shook her head.

"I would never..." She replied. Azrael smiled.

"Good, then perhaps I should brief you on Aurelia's next move... soon the Glepnir will be no more."

***

"There ya go!" The ALF doctor said, removing the cast. Soma wiggled his toes.

"Bet it feels good!" The doctor said, putting his medical tools away, "To finally air out that foot."

"Yeah." Soma laughed sheepishly.

"Umm... the sling..." Soma said. The doctor looked up at the boy sitting on the examination bed.

"Oh? Afraid that needs to stay on a bit longer." The doctor said. Soma nodded. He jumped off the bed.

"Well thank you," Soma said, bowing slightly. The doctor nodded.

"Go easy on that foot for now, okay?" The doctor replied. Soma ran off, waving to the doctor as he went. He found Mirillia with a group of girls also helping with the resistance movement. They all uniformly turned as he entered the room.

"Um--" Soma looked at them, and in turn, the girls giggled.

"See? See?" Mirillia said, then whispered something in another girl's ear.

***

The air in the mission briefing room was far more heavy and tense than in the briefing for the previous mission. Louise's eyes, sobered by the loss of a pilot and near loss of two other pilots had betrayed her fear. She had lost the stoicism she once had. All the crew could tell the last mission had damaged her just as much as any pilot who had participated in the last mission.

"O-okay..." She began, "We've gotten reports from ground surveillance units that an enemy attack is imminent on Terminus Island..." Her voice was tiny.

Alex Vanderburen, ace leader of the Alect Squadron looked about the room at all the sullen faces.  
Violet looked up at the strategic map, glancing concernedly every once in a while at Stella, whose eyes were fixed gazing lifelessly at the floor. Laguna sat slumped backwards in his chair, sighing. Hensson fidgeted in his chair, nervous at the upcoming battle. Tetsu was just a more intense version of his usual self, clenching his jaw as he frowned up at the strategic map, thinking.

"The enemy force consists of two naval fleets, escorted by an Aurelian fighter squadron. The Glepnir will ambush the naval forces using the Shock Cannon, and the air forces using a combination of SWBM's in conjunction with support from the Alect Squadron as well as three other Leasath Squadrons, Orion, Blitz, and Lilith."

Alex watched Louise as she spoke. She couldn't hide her emotions. Those sad, sleepy, amaranthine eyes betrayed far too much.

"For this mission, Alect Squadron will... consist of Alect-1 and Alect-5." She paused, her sullen eyes looking to Alex and Sun, who stared intensely up at the strategic map, his jaw tightening.

"Please return safely."

The crew exited the briefing room one by one, until only Alex remained, leaning on the far wall from Louise, watching her as she shut off the projector. She dropped to her knees, her head in her hand. Her shoulders shook as she tried to choke back tears. Alex walked up to her.

"You shouldn't be an AWACS officer." Alex said, "You're too weak."

Louise stared down at the floor under her long indigo hair, keeping silent.

"You remember the accident? At the academy?" Louise said after a long pause. Alex nodded.

"Yes. A night training mission. The one who was Alect-1 before I ever was, went below the designated altitude floor. He never even saw the hills in front of him."

Louise looked up at Alex, who was still reminiscing.

"When it happened, I thought I could deal with casualties." Louise said, gasping as if every single word pained her like daggers in her throat to say.

"But then... Eun and... Stella... When I first saw them... They're far too young for this. How can I force them to deal with death this early on?"

Alex smirked.

"They've been dealing with death far longer than you think." Alex said. He held out his hand for Louise to take. Louise looked up at him, the milky white of her eyes shiny with tears.

"I _am_ too weak, aren't I?" She said, taking his hand. Alex nodded, pulling her up.

"And that's why," He said, "I'm going to protect everyone. For you."

"Alex..."

He held her close. The silence in the room was broken by the roars of the jets in the sky outside.


End file.
